Varsity girls track coach Heather Wade reported the other day that she and some others would be putting on a track camp Tuesday through Thursday of next week, May 31 to June 2.
While youth track camps are not that unusual in a lot of places in our fair country, they have never really happened much in northwest Arkansas, or Arkansas itself for that matter. There have been some summertime track clubs that have existed for youth athletes in northwest Arkansas but with most summer meets occurring in central Arkansas, their success has been somewhat limited.
There was once a very active running program called the TrackHawks that started up locally here in 1998 and had a 10-year run before disbanding. I and several other local adults had a hand in it and quite a few kids were active in it with several actually going on to win national track medals during the time the club existed.
With the construction of the Pea Ridge track complex, the surge in student enrollment, and the increased attention Coach Wade's very successful track program has brought to the sport, the time is right to get young people back on the track and competing in the most basic of sports. Indeed, the sport of track had its start in ancient Greece and the sport was active in America prior to the advent of the nation's three most popular sports in baseball, football and basketball.
One of the greatest thing about track and field as a sport is that there is no bench. Everybody gets to "start." More than any other sport, it takes depth to to be a successful track team on a long term basis. The numbers of girl athletes on the Lady Blackhawk track team has risen dramatically the past three years, and this had led to the team easily becoming the most successful team in the 4A-1.
There is something for everyone in the sport. Athletes who can run quickly over short distances, those who can endure for distance races, and those who can run over obstacles are all needed. Those who can jump high, or jump long, or jump with coordination in the triple jump or pole vault events can find a niche. Athletes with strength can throw shot puts or discuses.
To those who think track is a simple, easy sport to be successful in, get disabused of that notion if their first experience is in the upper grades. While there are natural track talents, those are few and far between. Just as in football or basketball, the better athletes are the ones who are the most prepared.
Much has been over the past few years about the body's ability to have muscle memory. The reason basketball players shoot so many shots in basketball practice is to make the act of shooting a ball at a goal as natural as breathing. Athletes who come into the school-sponsored track teams that already have muscle memory in place relating to track events will be more successful.
A big part of the reason the 'Hawks have been so successful in track these past few years has been their success in the field events. It takes time to teach finesse and technique in the field events and the earlier kids learn them, the easier it will be to improve when they are old enough to compete with the varsity teams. While Coach Wade has done wonders with athletes who were generally novices in the sport, the squad could move from locally dominant to perhaps even developing into a state power.
An early experience in track and field technique could make a fast athlete out of a just quick one, with quick and fast not being the same thing. I have seen and coached students who were real quick but were sloppy in their running technique to the point that there weren't really fast. An example of a quick but not fast athlete would be a football running back who was quick to hit the hole and get through the line but who got run down from behind.
I coached an athlete once years ago who was a cat quick quarterback, but didn't get good leg extension when running which led to a short stride. His longest run from scrimmage was 8 yards his junior year, but after seriously running track that later spring, his football fortunes were much improved the following fall. He got through the line quickly as before but now he could accelerate all the way to the goal line. He finished that fall with 14 runs of 30 yards or more, going all the way from 60 yards out eight times.
Faster athletes are better athletes in all sports. Faster and stronger translates to better leaping ability in sports like volleyball and basketball, with faster athletes getting higher batting averages, and more rushing yards.
Athletes who are in good shape don't get injured as often, and bounce back much quicker when injuries do occur. The question lots of folks have when referring to the sporting experience is what being in shapes means.
I attended a high school whose coach taught and believed that any running back who couldn't run the 400 in 55 seconds or better wasn't in shape. The fourth year he was our coach, we had a dozen athletes who could break 53 in the 400. We had the best public school 4x400 relay in the state (3:25.1) and the following fall, the school won a state football title.
Being in shape means that you can perform as well in the fourth quarter as you did in the first. Being in shape means being in the game for every second and every play. As much as some who would like to think that all it takes to be successful is to be talented and have the right equipment, that's never been really true.
Perhaps the best reason for kids to get involved with track and field is that it is fun. Everybody can find somewhere to fit in, and it helps build personal confidence to see efforts result in better marks. There are many ways to "win" in track competition and developing a winning attitude can have good effect in other parts of a students life.
Contact Coach Wade for more information about the camp. If in doubt, try it out.
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Editor's note: John McGee is an award-winning columnist and sports writer. He can be contacted through The Times at [email protected].
Sports on 05/25/2016